Table of Contents
Introduction ix
1 1,000-Pound Missile 1
2 Back to the Big Fighter (I Have a Radar Again!) 5
Intel Brief: The Tomcat Community, 1987 11
3 Joining the Bullets 13
4 Supersonic in the Air and on the Ground 17
Intel Brief: Callsigns 21
5 "We're Complacent!" 23
6 Operation Earnest Will 29
Intel Brief: "Monkey" 33
7 Flying the Strait 35
8 Going off the Line 39
9 FNG 41
10 The Second Half - It's Not Over Till It's Over 45
11 Sunsets on the Fantail 51
12 Hello, Blackbird 55
13 Changes on the Ground and in the Air 59
Intel Brief; Air-to-Air Missile Comparison-1987 63
14 There are Two Fs in FFARP 65
15 Summertime at Miramar 71
16 Taking the Gloves Off 75
17 Challenges and Changes 81
18 Once More across the Pacific 85
Intel Brief: Flight Deck Cycle and the Fuel Ladder 89
19 Crystal Blue Cones of Flame, Fifty Feet Long 91
20 Leaving So Soon? 95
21 Farewell to Fightertown 101
22 Becoming a PowerPoint Ranger 105
23 The Fighting Checkmates 111
Intel Brief: Facts and Opinions on the New Squadron Environment 117
Intel Brief: The 569 Bulkhead Affair and LANTIRN 119
24 Checkmate One 121
25 Clawing Our Way Back 125
Intel Brief: Operation Southern Watch 129
26 Green Ink 131
27 Snapshots from the Tip of the Spear 135
28 Triumphant Return 139
29 I Stand Relieved 143
30 Epilogue 147
Appendix: Final Remarks to VF-211 at Quarters, Aug 6, 1998 149
Glossary 151
Acknowledgments 161